12/10/2012

Mouned, but inspiring

Singer Jenni Rivera sings the national anthem at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles in August. Rivera, 43, died Sunday, December 9, when the small plane she was traveling in crashed in the mountains of northern Mexico, her brother told CNN.

Rivera attends the 2012 Billboard Latin Music Conference in April in Miami.

Rivera performs at the 2012 Billboard Latin Music Awards in April in Miami. Rivera was known to fans as "La Diva de la Banda," or the Diva of Banda Music, establishing herself as a musical powerhouse with her Spanish-language performances of regional Mexican corridos, or ballads. In recent years, she had been working to crack the English-language U.S. market.

Rivera at the SAGIndie Actors Only brunch in January during the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. She reportedly was on the verge of crossover success with a sitcom inspired by "I Love Jenni," a Spanish-language reality TV show.

Rivera performs during the Teleton 2010 in December 2010 in Mexico City. Rivera's performances of soulful ballads won her millions of fans on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Rivera belts out a number during the 11th annual Latin Grammy Awards in November 2010 in Las Vegas.

Rivera takes on the Mexican national anthem before the junior middleweight bout between Shane Mosley and Sergio Mora in September 2010 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

When she was just 15 and a high school student she became a mother herself, giving birth to her first child, Janney "Chiquis" Marin Rivera in 1985. She then had two more children -- Jacqueline Marín Rivera and Michael Marín Rivera -- with her then-husband, José Trinidad Marín.

Rivera spoke about how Marín physically abused her because while she wanted to attend college, he wanted her to quit school and be at home "cooking and cleaning." She said she grew up with four brothers so she knew how to fight back.

They divorced in 1992 when Rivera found out Marín molested their daughter, Janney, and Rivera's younger sister, Rosie. Marín was convicted in 2006 and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Divorced and on welfare with three children, Rivera worked in real estate and took a second job at her father's record label, Cintas Acuario, which led to her passion and career in Regional/Banda/Norteño music.

A multi-camera family comedy, according to Deadline, was expected to star Rivera as a strong, middle-class, single Latina woman working to raise a family, struggling to run a family business and manage her extended family -- all while fighting the cultural perception that she needed a man to do it all.

"It is very flattering when they tell me I'm a great artist and performer," said Rivera in a 2010 interview with CNN en Espanol. "But I am a businesswoman, I'm primarily business-minded."

Breaking into a male-dominated music genre was not easy, but Rivera made it look that way with her endless perseverance.

"I think she just did it with her pantelones, and you need a big personality to do it. She's been through so much," said Damarys Ocana, executive editor of Latina magazine, in an interview with CNN, "She's been a victim, but never thought of herself as a victim."

CORRECTIONAn earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the singer commemorated by Jenni Rivera's 2003 album "Farewell to Selena." The album was a tribute to Tejano star Selena Quintanilla.

The drama that surrounded Rivera's life received just as much attention as her successful, career but that never stopped her from being a "mama bear to her five kids," said Ocana. Family always came first for Rivera.

"She was a singer in a genre of music that's largely dominated by males, and she brought a powerful voice to that genre where she sang frankly about her struggles to give her children a better life in this country," he said.

Universal Music Group also released a statement, saying: "The entire Universal Music Group family is deeply saddened by the sudden loss of our dear friend Jenni Rivera. The world rarely sees someone who has had such a profound impact on so many. From her incredibly versatile talent to the way she embraced her fans around the world, Jenni was simply incomparable. Her talent will be missed; but her gift of music will be with us always."

"If I had the opportunity to speak to a young immigrant girl that just arrived to the U.S. the advice I would have for her would be: ask, speak, search; because there are opportunities out there. And, know that you aren't the only immigrant or the last to come to this country. Many that have come before you have succeeded. It is possible."

Jenni Rivera is survived by her parents, Rosa and Pedro, three other siblings: Pedro Jr., Gustavo and Rosie; and her five children: Janney, Jacqueline, Michael, Jenicka and Johnny.